I think the question for Riot becomes: Do you really want these types of players representing the "elite" of your game? Is this what you want prospective new players looking at? Is this a trend you really want to see?

It makes no sense to me on a business level whatsoever, to simply allow what at least your Elo system considers top players, to so obviously exploit to their own advantage (which is essentially the definition of an exploit - and not bug testing) and to be a detriment to the enjoyability of the game of those that play legit. And that's me speaking as a top 20 player.

The answers should be simple. It is never okay to exploit. And the very idea that it is okay, is a detriment to this community. If your top players are encouraging this behavior, chances are that lower-ranked players are catching on. And for most of these issues, it's as open-and-shut as a rear-end car crash. These players know better. They aren't mistaken, or confused, or misinterpreting any rules. So stop saying "in the future..." - you've had every right to ban them since beta and take disciplinary action, but largely you have not for a select few that apparently get to bend and break the rules.